A Day in the Life…

Trevor Shane, author of CHILDREN OF PARANOIA

My day usually starts when my two-year old son, Leo, wakes up and serenades me and my wife with shouts of “Mommy!  Milk!” until my wife dutifully rises to meet our little boss’ demands.  Leo says milk with a strange southern twang, making it a two-syllable word–“meee-ilk”–despite living in Brooklyn since he was only a few weeks old.  I usually lay in bed for another forty minutes or so, contemplating the writing that I’d done the night before and listening to the sounds of my wife and son’s morning routine.  Until recently, that meant listening to my wife read Leo his favorite books.  Recently, it’s meant listening to Leo narrate those same books back to my wife with his own special twists.  Never before has The Cat and the Hat featured so many dinosaurs and firetrucks.

At around 6:40 in the morning, I get up and gather my things for my day job.  If inspired, I’ll make a few changes to whatever I was writing the night before though I never have time for more than a sentence or two of revisions in the morning.  The advantage of writing late at night is that the ideas are fresh in your mind when you got to sleep and are susceptible to being toyed with by your subconscious while you dream.  NPR goes on when I’m done writing and I’ll play with my son for an hour or so before it’s time to leave for work.

I bike to work, dropping Leo off at daycare on the way.  Leo sits behind me during the ride, pounding on my back and shouting “Daddy! School bus!” and “Puppy dog!” with irresistible glee, trying to make sure that I don’t miss the spectacle around us (I generally try to avoid exclamation points when writing but have found that I can’t write my son’s voice without them).  After dropping my son off, I have another three miles to go which takes me over the Brooklyn Bridge.  At the height of the bridge, I have the enviable view of the Empire State Building on my right and the Statue of Liberty on my left.  I listen to audio books while I ride.  It’s the only way I’ve found to fit reading into my schedule.  I’m able to “read” at least one book a month this way.  I think my writing has benefited from listening to audiobooks if only because it’s given me the chance to hear stories read in someone’s voice other than my own.

My day at work starts at 9am and lasts for about ten hours.  Sometimes it feels like a distraction.  If writing has been particularly frustrating, it feels like an escape.  The day job pays the bills and allows me to write without fear.  I’m grateful for it.  I don’t write at all during the day, though I’ll sometimes take a call from my editor or agent and I’ll interact with friends/readers on Twitter, Facebook and Goodreads.  Despite physically being away from my writing all day, my mind doesn’t let it go, going back to it over and over again.  It works for me.  I’ve found that many of my best ideas require some space to gestate and are aided by my inability to immediately write them down.  The white wine ideas can be drunk right away but the red wine ideas require a little air to breath first.

When the weather is nice, the Brooklyn Bridge is full of tourists in the evenings.  They slow me down, slow-footedly gazing at the sites that I’m lucky enough to see everyday.  I usually get home about a half an hour before Leo goes to sleep.  He usually welcomes me home by telling me exactly what he had for dinner.  I brush his teeth and we read few books.  Then I put him to bed.

My wife usually cooks dinner while I’m prepping Leo for bed.  He goes to bed at around 8 in the evening.  Then my wife and I sit down for dinner.  After we eat, I start writing (or editing, depending on where I am in the process) and usually write until about 1am.  I only get frustrated with my schedule when I have to stop writing because I’m too tired to go on and not because I’ve exhausted all of the ideas eager to explode from my fingers.  From 6am to 9pm my life is wonderfully normal.  From 9pm to 1am, it’s full of drama, intrigue, violence and heroism.

I usually write five or six days a week.  I force myself to take the one day off even when I don’t want to.  Writing is essential to good writing.  So is rest and life.

* * * * *

CHILDREN OF PARANOIA

by Trevor Shane

ALL WARS HAVE RULES

Rule Number One: No killing innocent bystanders.

Rule Number Two: No killing anyone under the age of eighteen.

BREAK THE RULES, BECOME THE TARGET

Since the age of eighteen, Joseph has been assassinating people on behalf of a cause that he believes in but doesn’t fully understand. The War is ageless, hidden in the shadows, governed by a rigid set of rules, and fought by two distinct sides-one good, one evil. The only unknown is which side is which. Soldiers in the War hide in plain sight, their deeds disguised as accidents or random acts of violence amidst an unsuspecting population ignorant of the brutality that is always inches away.

Killing people is the only life Joseph has ever known, and he’s one of the best at it. But when a job goes wrong and he’s sent away to complete a punishingly dangerous assignment, Joseph meets a girl named Maria, and for the first time in his life his singleminded, bloody purpose fades away.

Before Maria, Joseph’s only responsibility was dealing death to the anonymous targets fingered by his superiors. Now he must run from the people who have fought by his side to save what he loves most in this world. As Children of Paranoia reaches its heart-in-throat climax, Joseph will learn that only one rule remains immutable: the only thing more dangerous than fighting the War…is leaving it.

Buy CHILDREN OF PARANOIA by Trevor Shane:  Amazon / Barnes & Noble / Book Depository / Log Mark Books

ABOUT THERESA (a.k.a. Fade Into Fantasy): As a part time book store employee, editing intern, and the mastermind behind BLB Book Tours, Theresa is able to surround herself with her favorite things, BOOKS. When she isn’t working, learning, or attending her sons’ sporting events, she’s lost between the pages of a paranormal novel. Her hope is to someday earn a living editing books, but until then she’s happy to help spread the word about the fabulous books and authors she encounters along the way.